Assignments due for the week of November 20th, 2023
Quick Looks at Great Books
We went over the background and events in the first seven chapters of Silas Marner. Even though this book is written in the same time period as when Charles Dickens wrote, I think the students will still find it easier to understand as well as enjoying a heartwarming story!
For next week, read Chapters 8-15. (through Part 1) This will be our longest reading assignment, but a lot happens during this time! Students should look over all the questions in the study guide for these chapters to make sure they have not missed any important events. We will also watch portions of this novel’s BBC version in class. It’s always fun to see the characters personified to see how they match with what we were thinking from our reading! (ESPECIALLY this week’s assignment) Please bring to class any questions you may have about your reading. We will definitely go over them all before the quiz.
PSAT/SAT/ACT Test Prep
We reviewed some basic rules on subject/verb agreement, reviewed the 12 Classic Errors on the ACT, and took a quiz over the material. Then we took the ACT English Test together. (45 minutes) I will pass back the graded answer sheet next week. The students were given a practice test for the ACT Reading Test. Complete that at home, and we will go over it together. We will also do other preparation for the Reading test, which we will take next week. (35 min.) I expect good things on both these ACT tests.
American History
We did a review game to prepare for the test over Chapters 7-9, with a brief review on the first six chapters as well.They did a super job on the review, so I think they will do well on the test too. We had great scores on last week’s quiz on Chapter 7, so that should help!
For next week, read Chapters 11 and 12. We will go over the chapters with a focus on the new Presidents elected. On Monday, December 4, we will have a number of reports on some of the Presidents we will be reading about in the next few chapters. I will give the assignments next week, and you will have two weeks to prepare them. Let me know if you want to be included in this opportunity.
Watch the following short videos about the first four Presidents.
George Washington
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
U.S. Government
We reviewed all the lessons for our test today by playing a competitive game between each half of the class. If they listened to all of the questions, they should not have missed them on the test. They will receive the results next week.
For our next class, students were given the Crossword answers for Lesson 13 on Immigration (in the news a lot right now!). Complete pages 50-52 based on the answers I gave you. Also, complete pages 54-56 on Citizenship. (Lesson 14) Here are the answers for the crossword Citizenship Lesson 14. In our next class, we will also take a sample Citizenship test which all those applying for legal naturalization in our country have to pass. It will allow us to see what they have to study and know to assimilate into our country. Let me know if you have any questions.
British Literature
The students seemed to have a good understanding of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night despite the 1500’s English used!!! We went over the first two acts along with a discussion of all the major characters. We watched a little of the video of a performance of the play outside London. Act III will be especially fun to watch with the trick that was played on Malvolio. It’s always good to see the characters portrayed as real human beings and see how they fit Shakespeare’s description of them! We will watch lots of the next scenes of the play. We took our quiz on the first two acts after we had fully discussed it. (We went over especially questions that would be on the quiz.)
For next week, read Act III and answer the questions on page 15 of your study guide. I think you already know which characters will provide the humor in the story! Enjoy the comedy!
Watch the commentary about Act I Scene 1.